Baseball America's Top 10 Prospects lists are based on projections of a player's long-term worth after discussions with scouting and player-development personnel. All players who haven't exceeded the major league rookie standards of 130 at-bats or 50 innings pitched (without regard to service time) are eligible. Ages are as of April 1, 2007.

A
day after the Giants finished with a sub-.500 record for the second
consecutive year, general manager Brian Sabean admitted the
organization had to change its decade-long plan of surrounding Barry
Bonds with older, short-term veterans.

Then San
Francisco went out and committed $64 million to six free agents, none
younger then 31, before re-signing the 42-year-old Bonds to a
one-year, $16 million contract.

Nevertheless,
the Giants have started a shift in philosophy, even if it won't be
apparent at AT&T Park in 2007.

In August,
they paid $2.1 million to sign 16-year-old Dominican third baseman
Angel Villalona. That broke the record for a bonus given to an
amateur, besting the $2.025 million given to first-round righthander
Tim Lincecum two months earlier. The signings were an about-face for
an organization that had intentionally sacrificed draft picks and
diverted bonus money to the major league payroll in previous
years.

While Bonds should be back and taking aim
Hank Aaron's all-time home run record--assuming his contract gets
finalized in the wake of news regarding Bonds' violation of the
league's new ban on amphetamines--owner Peter Magowan has said that
Bonds would be a complement and no longer a centerpiece.

The
new nucleus of the Giants is their pitching staff. With Jason Schmidt
departing for the Dodgers as a free agent, San Francisco broke the
bank to bring lefthander Barry Zito in as its ace, signing him to a
seven-year, $126 million contract. He'll be backed by Matt Cain, who
played all of last season at age 21. Under-recognized amid baseball's
hailstorm of spectacular rookies in 2006, he won a team-high 13 games
and showed marked improvement in the second half.

San
Francisco also expects big things from Lincecum (22), who's on the
cusp of making a big league impact in his first full pro season. Noah
Lowry (26) and Jonathan Sanchez (24) give the Giants a solid pair of
lefty starters.

San Francisco hired manager
Bruce Bochy away from the Padres partly because of his track record
working with young pitchers and his judicious use of the bullpen. He
replaces 71-year-old Felipe Alou, a man held in high esteem but not
the right leader for a club that Sabean pledges to make younger and
healthier.

Giants minor league affiliates led
baseball with a combined .557 winning percentage last season, and how
they compiled that record was telling. After years of passing up
premium draft choices, there's little talent at the upper levels of
the system, and Triple-A Fresno and Double-A Connecticut finished a
combined 35 games under .500.

Scouting director
Dick Tidrow has a knack for unearthing talented arms in the draft,
but in 2006 he found several promising position players. Players like
outfielder Mike McBryde (fifth round), middle infielder Brian Bocock
(ninth) and catcher Adam Witter (a predraft signee as a fifth-year
college senior) teamed with shortstop Emmanuel Burriss (supplemental
first round) to help Salem-Keizer win the short-season Northwest
League title.

Those hitters won’t arrive in
time to help the Giants in 2007. They won't shake the skepticism
about whether homegrown players will be given fair chances to sink or
swim. Kevin Frandsen, their second baseman of the future, might
apprentice in a utility role. No other position prospect is ready to
contribute, with the possible exception of Fred Lewis, who could make
San Francisco as a fourth outfielder.